Fragile object packaging design

ABSTRACT

Packaging is provided having a molded base portion with a plurality of cells or compartments each sized and shaped to retain one object. Each of the plurality of cells or compartments have a bottom surface and upstanding peripheral walls with a top edge. The top edge of the peripheral walls define an opening to allow an object to be placed in the cell or compartment. To improve the ease with which a user can remove objects from the base portion, a centrally disposed aperture is provided in the bottom surface of each of the plurality of cells or compartments. The centrally disposed aperture is sized and shaped to permit a user to insert a finger from under the base portion through the centrally aperture in order to raise the object in the cell or compartment to more easily facilitate removal of the object with the user&#39;s other hand.

FIELD

This invention relates to an improved packaging for merchandising fragile articles such as eggs or other fragile products.

BACKGROUND

Many factors are taken into consideration in the design of egg cartons. Egg protection, resistance to stress or force, stackability, transportability, moisture resistance, aesthetic appearance, print surface area, weight, nestability, adaptability to accommodate various size eggs, and consistent manufacturing are factors which may be considered to varying degrees in the design of an egg carton.

Filled egg cartons are subjected to multiple adverse mechanical forces and environmental conditions during handling and transport from distribution centers to store shelves and then from store shelves to consumer homes. The cartons typically encounter automated equipment for packaging, loading, unloading, stacking, restacking and transport. During each of these encounters the goal is to resist egg breakage by stabilizing and holding the eggs in a protected environment, in a carton that can be manufactured in a cost-effective manner. Egg cartons are typically made from fibrous pulp materials, (“molded pulp cartons”) or expanded polystyrene (‘foam egg cartons”) or other thermoformed plastic materials.

The typical egg carton design has a molded base portion with a plurality of cells or compartments each cell or compartment sized and shaped to retain one egg. The plurality of cells or compartments are commonly arranged in two or three rows running the length of the carton. Each of the plurality of cells or compartments is separated from adjacent cells or compartments by an integrally molded upstanding post. The carton is provided with a hinged lid with a plurality of interior lid posts sized and located to mate with the top of the molded posts in the base. An example of this type of egg carton design is shown in Canadian Patent No. 2,786,345.

The present invention is directed to a carton having a design to improve the ease with which a user can remove each egg from the carton. Additionally, the present invention in some embodiments provides the additional benefit of preventing cracked eggs from getting stuck to the carton.

Accordingly, the present disclosure aims to address the above-mentioned issue of the existing carton construction.

SUMMARY

The present invention, in one embodiment, provides packaging having a molded base portion with a plurality of cells or compartments, each cell or compartment sized and shaped to retain one object. Each of the plurality of cells or compartments have a bottom surface and upstanding peripheral walls with a top edge. The top edge of the peripheral walls define an opening to allow an object to be placed in the cell or compartment. To improve the ease with which a user can remove objects from the base portion, a centrally disposed aperture is provided in the bottom surface of each of the plurality of cells or compartments. The centrally disposed aperture is sized and shaped to permit a user to insert a finger of one of the user's hands from under the base portion through the centrally disposed aperture in order to raise the object in the cell or compartment to more easily facilitate removal of the object with the user's other hand.

In a further embodiment, the present invention additionally provides a raised collar around the periphery of the centrally disposed aperture in the bottom surface of each cell or compartment. The collar is included to prevent the object placed in the cell or compartment from extending through aperture and contacting a surface on which the base portion is placed.

The present invention has particular application to egg cartons or packaging for other fragile objects.

Further features of the invention will be described or will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, the embodiments thereof will now be described in detail by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an egg carton having a base and hinged lid according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the interior of a base for the carton of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is an enlarged lateral cross-sectional view of the base for the carton of FIG. 2 , taken along line 3-3.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the base for the carton of FIG. 2 , taken along line 4-4.

FIG. 5 is an illustration showing an egg being removed by a user from a cell or compartment in the base of the carton of FIG. 2 .

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a partial view showing an egg in a cell or compartment in the base of the carton of FIG. 2 .

FIG. 7 is a photo showing an egg being removed by a user from a cell or compartment in the base of the carton according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a photo showing a plurality of eggs in the base of the carton shown in FIG. 7 with a number eggs removed from their cell or compartment in the base of the carton.

Similar references are used in different figures to denote similar components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 to 4 show packaging in the form of an egg carton, generally indicated at 1, having a molded base portion in the form of base tray 2 and a hinged lid 3 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, the base tray 2 of egg carton 1 has a plurality of cells or compartments 4, each cell or compartment 4 sized and shaped to retain one egg. Each cell or compartment 4 has a bottom surface 5 and upstanding peripheral walls 6 with a top edge 7. The top edge 7 of the peripheral walls 6 define an open end 8 to allow an egg to be placed in the cell or compartment 4. In the illustrated embodiment, the plurality of cells or compartments 4 are arranged in two parallel rows 9, 10 running the length of the base tray 2 of the carton 1. While the embodiment in FIGS. 1-4 show two rows 9,10 each row 9,10 having six cells or compartments 4, the number or rows and the number of cells or compartments can vary without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. At the intersection 11 of four adjacent cells or compartments 4 is an integrally molded upstanding post 12 extending above the top edge 7 of the peripheral walls 6 of the cells or compartments 4. The upstanding posts 12 are shown as an extension of one of the peripheral walls 6 of adjacent cells or compartments 4.

In the illustrated embodiment, the hinged lid 3 is hingedly connected to base tray 2 along a longitudinal top edge 22 of the base tray 2. On the opposite longitudinal top edge 23 of the base tray 3, a locking flap 24 is provided. On the interior surface 13 of the hinged lid 3 is a plurality of interior lid posts 14 arranged to extend downwardly when the hinged lid 3 is closed over the base tray 2 and located so the free end 15 of each interior lid post 14 mates with the top end 16 of a one on the upstanding posts 12. The combination of the interior lid posts 14 and upstanding posts 12 helps to protect the eggs in the cells or compartments 4 when the carton 1 is closed and cartons are stacked on each other.

The height of the upstanding posts 12 and peripheral walls 6 can make it difficult for some users to insert their fingers into the base tray 2 to remove an egg from its cell or compartment 4. To improve the ease with which a user can remove eggs from the base tray, in the base tray 2 in the embodiment illustrated is provided with a centrally disposed aperture 17 in the bottom surface 5 of each cell or compartment 4. The centrally disposed aperture 17 is sized and shaped to permit a user to insert a finger of one of the user's hands from under the base tray 2 through the centrally aperture 17 (see FIG. 5 ) in order to raise the egg 19 in the cell or compartment 4 on base tray 2 sufficiently to more easily facilitate removal of the egg 19 with the user's other hand. In a preferred embodiment the diameter of the aperture is between ⅜″ (9.5 mm) and 1″ (25.4 mm) diameter”.

In the embodiment shown the aperture 17 will be large enough for the tip of a finger, or about half of the first section of a finger, to be inserted sufficiently to raise the product. When the product is so raised, then the user can with the other hand more easily remove it than would be the case in a carton with no aperture.

In the embodiment illustrated the centrally disposed aperture 17 includes a raised collar 18 on the bottom surface 15 of each cell or compartment 4 around the periphery of the centrally disposed aperture 17 having a height between 1/16″ (1.6 mm) and ½″ (12.8 mm). The collar 18 is included to prevent the end 20 of an egg 19 placed in the cell or compartment 4 from extending through aperture 17 and contacting a surface on which the base tray 2 and carton 1 is placed. The collar 18 may be unnecessary if due to the size and shape of the egg 19, it is supported by the peripheral walls 6 of each cell or compartment 4 from contacting the bottom surface 5 of the cell or compartment 4. Alternatively, the collar can be in the form of a series of raised nubs.

In addition, where the collar 18 is continuous around aperture 17, the collar 18 creates a waste well 21 around its outside circumference, which in the case of an egg carton will contain any leakage from a fractured egg (FIG. 5 ).

To apply the present invention to current egg cartons, is to provide the centrally disposed aperture 17 and if required the collar 18 at the bottom 5 of each compartment within the package. In the case of chicken egg cartons, it is important that while in the carton, the egg does not contact any surface on which the carton is placed. The collar 18 helps perform this function. In a preferred embodiment to protect the egg, a collar of ¼″ height (6.4 mm), extending upwardly from the bottom surface 5 around the periphery of the centrally disposed aperture and inclined at an angle plus or minus 73°. The actual angle should allow the molded product to be easily removed from a mold during the manufacturing process, and will be dictated by the individual machinery being employed by each manufacturer. In the preferred embodiment the height of the collar should ensure clearance between the bottom 20 and any external surface on which the base tray is placed of about a minimum of ⅛″ (3.2 mm).

The girth of each finger on any given user's hand will vary, and the finger that the user selects to use for insertion will also vary. In order to accommodate the girth of a typical finger, the preferred diameter of the centrally disposed aperture is 3/4″ (19 mm)

This package design improvement can be applied to various packaging materials, such as pulp and thermoformed plastic. The illustrated embodiment shows the present invention applied to an egg carton but the invention can be applied to packaging for other objects where individual objects are placed in a cell or compartment.

While the principles of the invention have been shown and described in connection with specific embodiments, it is to be understood that such embodiments are by way of example and are not limiting as is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details illustrated in the drawings. Other modifications and applications, or equivalents, will occur to those skilled in the art. The terms “having”, “comprising” and “including” and similar terms as used in the foregoing specification are used in the sense of “optional” or “may include” and not as “required”. Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the present construction will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and attached drawings. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims that follow. The scope of the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather one or more. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the embodiment described throughout the disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and intended to be encompassed by the claims. 

1. A package having a molded base portion with a plurality of cells or compartments, each cell or compartment sized and shaped to retain one object, each of the plurality of cells or compartments having a bottom surface and upstanding peripheral walls with a top edge, the top edge of the peripheral walls define an opening to allow an object to be placed in the cell or compartment, the improvement comprising providing a centrally disposed aperture in the bottom surface of each of the plurality of cells or compartments, the centrally disposed aperture sized and shaped to permit a user to insert a finger of one of the user's hands from under the base portion through the centrally disposed aperture in order to raise the object in the cell or compartment to more easily facilitate removal of the object from the packaging with the user's other hand and wherein a raised collar is provided around the periphery of the centrally disposed aperture in the bottom surface of each cell or compartment and wherein the raised collar extends upwardly from the bottom surface of the cell or compartment to support the object placed in the cell or compartment and prevent the object from extending through the centrally disposed aperture.
 2. (canceled)
 3. (canceled)
 4. The package according to claim 1 wherein the package is an egg carton having a molded base portion in the form of base tray having a plurality of cells or compartments, each cell or compartment sized and shaped to retain one egg wherein each cell or compartment has a bottom surface and upstanding peripheral walls with a top edge, the top edge of the peripheral walls defining an open end to allow an egg to be placed in the cell or compartment.
 5. (canceled)
 6. (canceled)
 7. The package according to claim 4 wherein the plurality of cells or compartments are arranged in two or more parallel rows running the length of the base tray of the carton.
 8. The package according to claim 5 wherein the plurality of cells or compartments are arranged in two or more parallel rows running the length of the base tray of the carton.
 9. The package according to claim 6 wherein the plurality of cells or compartments are arranged in two or more parallel rows running the length of the base tray of the carton.
 10. The package according to claim 5 wherein at an intersection of four adjacent cells or compartments is an integrally molded upstanding post extending above the top edge of the peripheral walls of the cells or compartments.
 11. The package according to claim 6 wherein at an intersection of four adjacent cells or compartments is an integrally molded upstanding post extending above the top edge of the peripheral walls of the cells or compartments.
 12. The package according to claim 4, wherein the diameter of the centrally disposed aperture is between 9.5 mm and 25.4 mm.
 13. The package according to claim 5, wherein the diameter of the centrally disposed aperture is between 9.5 mm and 25.4 mm.
 14. The package according to claim 6, wherein the diameter of the centrally disposed aperture is between 9.5 mm and 25.4 mm.
 15. The package according to claim 12, wherein the diameter of the centrally disposed aperture is about 19 mm.
 16. The package according to claim 13, wherein the diameter of the centrally disposed aperture is about 19 mm.
 17. The package according to claim 14, wherein the diameter of the centrally disposed aperture is about 19 mm.
 18. The package according to claim 12, wherein the height of the collar is between 1.6 mm and 12.8 mm.
 19. The package according to claim 13, wherein the height of the collar is between 1.6 mm and 12.8 mm.
 20. The package according to claim 14, wherein the height of the collar is between 1.6 mm and 12.8 mm.
 21. The package according to claim 18, wherein the height of the collar is 6.4 mm.
 22. The package according to claim 19, wherein the height of the collar is 6.4 mm.
 23. The package according to claim 20, wherein the height of the collar is 6.4 mm
 24. The package according to claim 4 made from fibrous pulp materials, expanded polystyrene or other thermoformed plastic material.
 25. The package according to claim 5 made from fibrous pulp materials, expanded polystyrene or other thermoformed plastic material.
 26. The package according to claim 6 made from fibrous pulp materials, expanded polystyrene or other thermoformed plastic material. 